The Chosen One
by Arielle1
Summary: After Buffy's death a new slayer is chosen. That new slayer is Cordelia.


****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Buffy characters. They all belong to Joss Whedon.

Authors note: Post "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" & "The Gift". Almost all the facts and things are the same as both shows except a few.

Summery: After Buffy's death a new slayer is chosen. That new slayer is Cordelia.

The Chosen One

Wesley Wyndham-Price sat at the desk in his office. He glanced at his desk calendar, June 28th 2001.

Angel had been gone for almost a month. Angel had taken the news of Buffy's death very hard and had left Los Angeles almost right away to seek out some monks.

Since Angel had left Wesley and the rest of Angel Investigations had not seen a single demon or even vampire, it seemed as if all the demons and vampires had disappeared. 

Wesley became hopeful as the phone rang. Maybe someone needed their help "Hello, Angel Investigations."

"Hello Wesley." Came a familiar voice, the voice sounded British and far away.

He sat up straight in his chair "Hello Travers. What do I owe the honor of this call?" Wesley was quite surprised to be hearing from the head of the Watcher's Council seeing as he had left the Council after he'd briefly been Watcher to both Buffy and Faith. 

"My call is about a friend of yours." Travers said.

"Angel?" Wesley asked.

"No not the vampire." Travers said, "This concerns the girl. Cordelia Chase."

Wesley was confused "What do you possibly want with Cordelia?"

"She has been chosen." Travers stated.

Wesley couldn't believe what he was hearing, Cordelia had been chosen? To be the slayer? "Travers are you positive? Something can't be right. Cordelia has never been trained."

"I have not made a mistake Wesley. Cordelia Chase has been chosen to take the place of Buffy Summers." The head of the Watcher's Council said "And you will be her watcher."

***

Cordelia Chase pushed open one of the glass doors that led into the lobby of the Hypirion hotel, which was the headquarters of Angel Investigations.

As she passed by Wesley's office she noticed he was staring down at the top of his desk. 

"Hey Wesley!" She said as she entered his office.

He nodded but didn't look up at her. "Morning Cordy."

"Wes? Are you ok?" She asked taking the seat in front of the desk.

Wesley took off his glasses and looked at her "There's something I need to tell you."

She raised an eyebrow "Is everything ok? No one else died right."

He shook his head "No, everyone is alright…well considering the events that have taken place recently." He replaced his glasses; he would cut right to the chase "I received a call not too long ago from the Watcher's Council."

"What did they want?" Cordelia asked leaning back in the chair.

"Well they said that a new slayer has been chosen." Wesley told her.

Cordelia nodded "Oh really? Well that's good. Who is she?"

Wesley looked at her for a moment before speaking "Cordelia, I don't really know exactly how to say this but the new slayer is you."

Her brown eyes widened "What? I can't be the slayer! They must have me confused with someone else."

Wesley shook his head "I said the same thing but Travers assured me it was no mistake. You are the new slayer and I will be your watcher."

She sighed "But aren't I too old to be chosen? Not that I'm old of course."

He smiled "Of course. I don't know though I was wondering the same thing but Travers wouldn't say why you were chosen."

Cordelia nodded "It's not enough that I get mind numbing visions but now I have to kill demons too."

"Well its not as if killing demons is new to you." Wesley stated "We kill demons for a living.

She thought about that for a minute "True."

"Plus we'll all still be here to aid you." He said.

"Wait does this mean I have to go back to Sunnydale? Ya know cause of the whole Hellmouth thing." She asked.

Wesley thought about that "I don't think it will be necessary for you to move back there. But we'll probably need to go back if need be."

Cordelia leaned back in her chair "As long as I don't have to move back there."

"Although I would like to visit Rupert soon." Wesley said "I have never actually trained a slayer before and I would like to see if Rupert might have some tips."

"So how long will you be gone?" She asked.

"Actually I would like you to come with me." He said, "You could start some training there."

Cordelia nodded "Right and what do we do about Fred?"

Wesley thought for a moment "Oh dear I had almost forgotten about Fred."

"I mean she hasn't come out of her room since we got back from Pylia." Cordelia stated "And with Angel gone we can't just leave her here."

"Quite right." He said "And we can't leave her with Gunn."

"Who can't you leave with me?" Charles Gunn asked as he walked into the office "Better yet where are you going?"

"Fred and Sunnydale." Cordelia said.

Gunn raised an eyebrow and looked at her then at Wesley "Whole story please."

"Cordelia has been chosen as the new slayer and I wish to go to Sunnydale and I want Cordy to come with me but with Angel gone there is no one to watch over Fred." Wesley said.

Gunn nodded "Bring her with us."

"Us?" Cordelia asked "You're gonna come too?"

"Well of course." Gunn said, "I am part of this team."

Wesley nodded "It's settled then Fred will come with us."

"All we have to do is figure out how to get her to leave LA never mind her room." Cordelia said.

***

Cordelia knocked on Fred's bedroom door "Fred?" she heard movement in the room and was about to knock on the door again when it was pulled open a crack.

"Oh hi Cordelia." Fred said, she was wearing her glasses and her long brown hair was in a messy ponytail.

"Fred can I come in?" Cordelia asked.

Fred turned her head away from Cordelia and glanced behind her into the room before moving aside and opening the door.

Cordelia hesitated a moment before walking into the room. There wasn't much in the room except a bed, a couch and two bookcases. She noticed that two of the walls had been written on in different color markers "Um I like what you've done with the place."

Fred put her hands behind her back and looked down at the floor then at Cordelia but didn't say anything. 

"So how's everything?" Cordelia asked.

Fred nodded "Ok."

Cordelia looked around the room "I'm just gonna cut to the chase ok?"

Fred looked confused "Um alright."

"Well…me and Wesley have to leave town for a few days and Gunn is coming with us….and since Angel is gone you're gonna have to come too." Cordelia said.

Fred shook her head "Oh no I don't think I could go."

Cordelia took Fred's hands and looked into the girl's deep brown eyes "Nothing will happen to you. We're going to see some friends in Sunnydale."

"Friends?" She asked.

Cordelia nodded "Yeah. Remember Buffy? The girl we've been talking about."

"The one who died? The one Angel left because of?" Fred asked.

"Yeah. They're her friends and Wesley has to go see them." Cordelia asked.

Fred thought for a minute "Well ok."

Cordelia smiled "Great."

***

"Have a nice night. Please come back and spend more money soon." Anya Emerson said as she made another successful sale.

It was like any other night at the Magic Box; Willow Rosenberg and Tara McClay were reading through magic books at the round table in the middle of the room. Xander Harris was roaming around the shop looking at the various potions and magic paraphanalia. Dawn Summers was sitting against a wall reading a book and Rupert Giles was in a backroom going over inventory books.

The only thing that was different was that Buffy Summers wasn't in the training room. It had been almost a month since Buffy had died and the Scooby Gang were just starting to ease back into their normal everyday lives.

Anya closed the cash register as the telephone behind her rang. She turned and lifted the receiver to her ear "Hello Magic Box." 

"Yes Hello. Is Rupert Giles available?" Came a voice with a British accent.

"Hold on." Anya covered the receiver with her palm "Giles!"

Xander leaned over the counter "Who is it Ahn?" 

She shrugged as Giles came into the room.

"Yes?" He asked pushing his glasses up.

She handed him the phone "Phone call."

"Thank you." Giles put the phone to his ear "Rupert Giles."

"Hello Rupert." Came a familiar voice "How are you?"

"Just fine Quentin." Giles said, "As I said before I'm staying in Sun…"

"This has nothing to do with your decision to stay there. I am calling to inform you that we have chosen a new slayer to take the place of Ms. Summers."

The Scoobies watched from the round table as Giles talked to the head of the Watcher's Council in England.

Giles removed his glasses "Who….who have you chosen?"

"I believe you know the girl." Travers said, "We have chosen Cordelia Chase."

"Cordelia?" Giles asked. Xander's head whipped around and he stared at Giles "Why have you chosen her?"

"Not that I have to explain our decision but in the past Ms. Chase has shown great heroism and control in dire situations. And from what I have seen and heard she has been helping to keep the demon and vampire population in Los Angeles down." Travers stated.

Giles was confused, how could Travers have ever seen Cordelia helping Angel "But Travers, Cordelia has not been trained to become a slayer."

"Ms. Summers was never trained prior to her becoming the slayer either." Travers said "God rest her soul. And she proved to be a mighty slayer. Our decision is final. I only called to tell you so that you would not have to worry about who was taking care of things. Good bye Rupert." The line went dead.

Giles stared at the phone in his hand then lowered it to its cradle. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Cordelia had been chosen. It didn't make any sense to Giles.

"Yo Book man!" Xander bellowed causing him to open his eyes "What's going on?"

Willow nodded "Yeah did we hear you say Cordelia has been chosen?"

Giles put his glasses back on then faced the others and walked around the counter. 

"Giles stop dragging this out." Xander said.

He cleared his throat "Well um it seems that the Watcher's Council has chosen Cordelia as the next slayer."

"Cordelia?" Dawn asked, "You mean that really awful girl Xander used to date?"

Xander coughed as Anya glared at him "Exnay on the ating day."

"I'm not jealous." Anya said, "Although she did wish you never knew the touch of another woman."

"Huh?" Xander asked "When?"

"G…guys I don't think any of that m..matters right now." Tara broke in then looked at Giles "Why did they choose her?"

Giles shook his head "I haven't a clue as to their exact reasons. All I know is what Travers would tell me." He paused.

"So what did he tell you?" Willow asked.

"Oh yes well he said that Cordelia has proven to be rather helpful at times." Giles said as the door to the magic shop opened. They however didn't notice the four people who entered the shop.

"Did someone say my name?" they all turned their heads in the direction of the person who had spoken. It was Cordelia. Three other people, only one of which they recognized, stood behind her.

Xander couldn't take his eyes off her. Just by looking at her he could tell that she had changed since the last time he had seen her. When had that been? Almost two years ago?

Anya noticed that he was staring "Xander!"

He turned quickly "Yes honey!"

"So I take it you've heard about Cordelia." Wesley said walking past Cordelia towards the others.

"Well yes." Giles said, "I'm rather surprised though."

Wesley nodded "I was too when Travers informed me."

"So ah what are you doing here?" Willow asked, "I don't mean to be rude."

"Oops!" they all turned to see a girl with long brown hair standing next to a shelf full of crystals. One of them lay shattered at her feet.

A tall bald headed man took her wrist "Uh we'll pay for that."

Giles removed his glasses "I believe we have more."

"That's ah Fred and Gunn." Wesley stated as Gunn escorted Fred to the table.

"Which one's the girl?" Dawn whispered to Willow who shushed her. 

"Will has brought up a very good question." Xander said, "What do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Wesley pushed his glasses up on his nose "Well I have been appointed Cordelia's watcher and since I've never actually trained a slayer on my own before I decided it would be wise to come here." He turned and looked at Giles "I was hoping you might advise me on training Cordelia."

"Ah well yes I suppose I could help." Giles replaced his glasses "How long do you plan on staying in Sunnydale?"

"As long as it takes." Cordelia said "But not too long."

"Where are you staying?" Willow asked.

"I never thought of that." Wesley said stroking his chin "I suppose we could get a motel room."

Cordelia looked mortified "I don't think so. When I moved out of my old apartment, which might I add was almost worse then a motel. I swore that I would never live any place like that again."

Tara spoke up "They could stay at the house." She looked at Giles then Willow "We do have the living room and…and Buffy's room." With the dorms closed over the summer Willow and Tara had moved into Buffy's house to help look after Dawn.

"That's if you guys don't mind." Willow said looking around the room; there were no objections.

Wesley smiled at Tara "Thank you."

"Where's Angel?" Dawn asked suddenly.

"He went on some spiritual trek thingy." Cordelia said, "Ya know after he found out about Buffy he kinda wigged and said he needed some time to himself. I figured he was gonna stay in his room for a while but then he came down into the lobby and announced that he was leaving for a while."

"I left him a note." Wesley said "Incase he comes back and wonders where we are." An eerie silence soon fell over the group in the magic shop.

Giles looked at his watch then broke the silence "We could do some basic training exercises now." he looked at Cordelia "Or we could wait till tomorrow and you can all go settle in tonight."

Cordelia glanced at Wesley then at Giles "I vote for settling in."

Wesley nodded "That seems best. Cordy can get a good nights sleep then start training first thing in the morning."

"Does it have to be first thing?" She asked.

Xander leaned over to Willow "Same old Cordelia." He whispered.

"We don't know that." She whispered back.

Cordelia shifted from one foot to the other "I kinda wanted to visit Buffy's grave in the morning."

"See." Willow said as Xander stared at the girl who for most of their high school career had been nothing but a shallow snob.

Giles nodded "I suppose that can be arranged."

"Why don't we get going." Willow said "It will take a while to get everyone settled in ya know."

"That's a good idea." Wesley said, "So we'll meet back here tomorrow." 

Xander nodded "Yup. This is Slayer headquarters."

"You can all go." Giles said, "I'll close up the shop." 

"Night Giles." Tara said as everyone headed to the door.

***

Cordelia lay awake staring at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. It could have been the feeling of being overwhelmed towards the idea of becoming the slayer or it could have been the fact that she was sleeping in Buffy's room. In Buffy's bed.

She glanced at Fred who was fast asleep on a cot next to the closet. Wesley and Gunn were asleep downstairs in the living room.

None of them had any idea what it was like for her to be there in Buffy's house. She felt that she didn't deserve to be the next Slayer. That she didn't have what it took to be a Slayer.

She got out of bed and walked over to the mirror on the wall; various pictures of Buffy and the Scoobies were stuck around the glass. One of the pictures was of Buffy. Willow, Oz, Xander and herself. It had been taken the day of graduation, before the ceremony where the Mayor had turned into a giant snake.

They all looked so happy in the picture. That had been two years ago. She had left for LA soon after that and she had made no attempt to try and stay in touch with them. The last time she had seen Buffy was when she had come to LA a year ago before Faith had gone to jail. She hadn't seen Oz since he came to LA to give Angel the Gem of Amara and now she didn't know if she'd ever see him again. She had though spoken to Willow on the phone a few times since she'd left and had seen her briefly when she had come to tell them about Buffy. But she hadn't seen or talked to Xander since she had left; she didn't know anything that was going on with him except that he was dating Anya. 

Cordelia put the picture back then she turned and her eyes scanned the room. Somehow she felt close to Buffy just by being in the room. She spotted the trunk against the wall that held all the weapons Buffy had used. 

She knelt down next to the trunk and lifted the lid to find what looked like the inside of any normal girl's trunk. A wooden tray held a few sweaters and some other things. Cordelia lifted the tray out and placed it on the floor. Inside the bottom of the trunk were a few stakes, some vials of holy water, a crossbow and a few other small weapons.

Cordelia picked up one of the stakes and held it tightly in her hand. She had held a stake lots of times but for some reason this time it felt right. After a few minutes she put the stake back along with the tray then closed the lid. 

She stood then looked around the room once more before lying back down in the bed. She knew that everything was going to be ok. She knew that she would make Buffy proud.

"I think it's about time we began." Giles stated as Cordelia looked around the training room in the back of the magic shop. 

"What are we gonna do?" She asked, she was dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a white tank top and her short dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail "Are we gonna use swords? Angel's been teaching me to use a sword."

Giles removed his glasses "Has he now?"

Cordelia nodded as Giles glanced to Wesley who sat on the vinyl couch against the wall.

"I'm very handy with a sword myself." Wesley said.

"Yes well today we're going to start with some basic exercises." Giles said wiping his glasses with a handkerchief "Now lets begin. I don't want this to last all day." Cordelia and Wesley had gone with Willow to the cemetery a few hours earlier to visit Buffy's grave and they had just gotten to the Magic Box twenty minutes before.

Cordelia sighed "Ok. So what kinda exercises?"

"Close your eyes." Giles instructed "You must hone your senses to know when there is danger nearby."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Giles circled her slowly "Now keeping your eyes closed defend yourself from each punch I throw."

Cordelia nodded as Giles stopped behind her; he lifted his arm and swung at her head from behind. In one fluid motion Cordelia turned in the direction of his arm and grabbed it.

"Very good." Giles said. He was quite impressed at her quick reflexes. After a few more punches which Cordelia successfully blocked Giles decided to move on to another exercise.

They spent the whole afternoon training. By the time they finished the sun was no longer shining through the small window in the training room.

"I am very impressed Cordelia." Giles said putting his glasses on "You are quite the fighter."

She shrugged "Well what can I say? I've had Angel teaching me some things."

Wesley nodded "He doesn't want her to get hurt."

"Yeah. I already hurt enough when I get the visions." She said.

"Visions?" Giles asked "What sort of visions?"

Cordelia sat on the couch "Oh I get visions that tell me when something is going to happen and then I tell Wes and the guys and they go out and take care of it."

"May I ask how you acquired these visions?" Giles asked.

"Doyle who used to work with me and Angel used to get them." She said "And then he died. But before he died somehow the visions got passed to me."

"I see." Giles said "And these visions hurt?"

Cordelia nodded "Oh you know they're your typical head splitting, teeth shattering visions." 

"Luckily for Cordy they don't happen everyday." Wesley stated.

"Thank god!" Cordelia said then changed the subject "Will I be patrolling?"

Giles thought for a moment "Well perhaps you could go if somebody else went too. For backup of course."

"Cool." She said glancing at the window which was completely dark by now. The three got up and went into the shop where the rest of the Scoobies and Gunn and Fred were sitting.

"Willow!" Giles said, "Would you mind accompanying Cordelia as she patrols tonight?" 

"Um sure." Willow said standing up "We going now?"

Wesley sat down at the table next to Gunn "Gunn would you mind going with the girls? I would feel safer sending them out if you or I was with them. But I must stay here and discuss some things with Giles."

"Sure no problem Wes." He smiled then stood up as Cordelia and Willow put on their jackets "Ladies! May I join you?"

"Come on Gunn." Cordelia said as Willow went into the training room to get a few weapons. 

"You don't need to stay out all night." Giles said, "If you don't encounter any vampires come back here."

Cordelia smiled "Giles, it's not like I've never slayed a vampire or killed a demon before. Because I have incase you've forgotten. Remember graduation?"

"Yes well those times were different." Giles stated.

"How?" Cordelia asked.

"Um well." Giles removed his glasses "Buffy was there then."

Willow came out of the back "Not during the summer when she disappeared after she sent Angel to hell."

Xander nodded "Remember? She left. We had to do the slaying."

Giles stood staring at the three young people who for years had killed many a demon along side the slayer "Just be careful."

Cordelia smiled "We will." Her, Gunn and Willow left the shop and headed to the cemetery.

***

Cordelia sighed and rammed her stake into the ground. They had been patrolling for close to three hours and hadn't come across one vampire. "What's happened here? Vampires used to be coming out of the woodwork."

"It's mostly demons around these days." Willow stated "Every now and then we'll run across a pack of vamps."

Gunn leaned against a tree "You'd think without a slayer in town they'd be swarming the place."

Willow shrugged "Who knows."

Cordelia pulled the stake from the ground and stood up "I'm gonna take a quick sweep and if I don't find anything we'll go back."

"Sounds good." Gunn said "You sure you don't want us to come?"

She nodded "Yeah. I'll be back." She whistled a pop song as she walked.

"Well look what we've got here." Cordelia spun around and saw Spike leaning against the entrance to a crypt "Cordelia what are you doing in nice ole' Sunnyhell?"

Cordelia took a fighting stance "I should be asking you the same thing Spike. If I can recall last time we saw each other you were trying to kill Angel." She gripped the stake tightly.

Spike took a drag on his cigarette then stomped it out on the ground "How is the old Sire doing anyways?"

"Better than you'll be in a second." She said lunging at him with the stake raised.

Spike jumped out of the way "Bloody hell! What's going on here?"

"You're not getting away this time." She said as she kicked at him.

Spike grabbed her ankle and held it tightly "Apparently you haven't been filled in on everything that's happened since then." He dropped her leg and grabbed her arm that held the stake.

"Cordy! Spike stop!" Willow exclaimed as her and Gunn ran up to them.

"What?" Cordelia asked "Why?"

Spike let go of her arm and took a step back as the red haired witch came between them "Red what's going on?"

She turned to Cordelia "Spike's on our side now. Well kinda."

"What?" Cordelia asked "How?"

Willow nodded "Yeah so in other words he's to be of the non dusted kind."

"Damn right." Spike huffed running a hand through his hair.

Willow glanced at Spike then back to Cordelia "And as for the how I'll explain later." She turned to Spike.

"Now why's Miss Prom Queen in Sunnydale? Last I heard she was shacking up with a ghost."

"Well…" Willow looked directly in Spike's deep blue eyes "Cordy is the new Slayer."

Spike's eyes widened in shock "What? New Slayer? Her?" he looked Cordelia up and down "Nice hair by the way."

Her hand shot up to her short dark hair "What's wrong with me?"

He shrugged "You just don't seem like the Slayer type is all."

"Want me to kill him?" Gunn asked raising his crossbow. He looked directly at Spike "I have this problem with cocky vampires."

Spike raised an eyebrow "And who's this? He's new."

"That's Gunn." Willow said then turned to him "No one is killing Spike." For a minute no one spoke, they all looked at each other.

"If we're done with the happy reunion then I'm leaving." Spike stated as he turned and started walking away then stopped "Tell Little Bit I said hi." He started walking again.

"Spike, wait." Willow called but he had decided to ignore them.

"That was William the Bloody right?" Gunn asked.

Willow nodded as she watched him turn the corner of his crypt. She turned back to Cordelia and Gunn "Lets go back to the shop."

"Alright." Cordelia said. They started towards the exit of the cemetery when something stepped out of the shadows.

"Hello Slayer." It growled. It was about six and half feet tall, it's eyes glowed red. It's skin was brown and scaly. And it wore black from head to toe.

"Seems that news travels fast here." Gunn said raising the crossbow.

The new arrival focused its glowing red eyes on Gunn "Foolish boy. Do you think that toy will stop me?" it pulled a long sword from somewhere under the long cloak it wore.

Willow closed her eyes and started reciting a spell.

"Silly witch." The demon raised its hand and a burst of energy shot at Willow pushing her against a tree "My business is with the Slayer." He looked at Cordelia.

Willow rubbed her head as Spike came from out of nowhere and dropped to his knees beside her "You ok Red?"

She nodded "Yeah I think so. What is that?"

Spike studied the demon. It hadn't moved from it's initial spot yet and Cordelia and Gunn were still posed to fight "I don't know. Ugly bugger though. Get up." He grabbed Willow's arm and helped her to her feet.

"What do you want with me?" Cordelia asked clutching the stake she still held. She wished that they had more then a few stakes and two crossbows. Suddenly a bolt from Gunn's crossbow struck the demon in the shoulder.

"Gunn, no!" Willow cried as the demon reached up and pulled the bolt from its shoulder without breaking it. 

It inspected the bolt before throwing it at Gunn with the same force as when it had been released from the crossbow. The bolt lodged itself in Gunn's right thigh.

Gunn cried out in pain and grabbed his thigh before collapsing to the ground.

"I think this is our cue to make with the quick run away." Willow said to Spike who nodded. 

_"Cordy don't try anything." _Cordelia looked from side to side. Willow was connecting with her telepathically _"Just back up slowly."_

"I'll get the boy." Spike said. He ran to Gunn and lifted his arm over his shoulder and pulled him to his feet.

Cordelia kept her eyes on the demon as she backed up slowly.

"If you run you are fools." It said.

"Those who run live to fight another day." Gunn said through gritted teeth as Spike pulled him towards Willow.

"Red can you put some kinda hocus pocus on him?" Spike asked, "So he doesn't chase after us."

Willow thought for a moment as Cordelia joined them "I can try a confusion spell."

"Do it." Spike said.

Willow closed her eyes and said a few words. The demon stood his ground.

"Doesn't look like it's working." Gunn said stating the obvious.

"I say we just make with the running." Cordelia said. The others agreed.

"You haven't seen the last of me." They heard the demon bellow as they made a break for the cemetery exit.

***

"Did you hear that?" Anya pulled away from Xander's kiss and listened closely.

Xander shook his head "I didn't hear anything." He pulled her to him and kissed her again as something crashed to the ground. Xander pushed her away "Ok I definitely heard that."

"Hello?" Anya asked into the darkness of the Magic Box basement where her and Xander had snuck away to "Who's there? If you don't answer me then Xander will cut you into tiny bits."

"Ahn!" Xander exclaimed.

"I very much doubt that." Came a familiar voice from the shadows in the room.

Xander's brow creased "Dead boy?"

Angel sighed as he stepped out of the shadows "How many times have I asked you not to call me that?"

Xander counted on his fingers "A lot."

"Why are you guys down here?" Angel asked as he moved closer to them "Actually I think I saw enough."

"That keen vamp eyesight huh." Xander said as he buttoned his shirt.

Angel nodded "Are Wes and the others here? I went back to the hotel and there was a note that said they had come here."

"They're upstairs." Anya said "Well except Cordelia and that guy."

"Gunn." Xander said.

"Where'd they go?" Angel asked.

"Patrolling." Anya said.

Angel looked confused "Patrolling?"

"Maybe Wesley should explain." Xander said motioning with his arm for them to head towards the stairs "Hey by the way how'd you get in here?"

"Sewer tunnels." He said as they walked up the stairs.

"Ah yes the lovely sewer tunnels of Sunnydale. I've been thinking of moving into one myself." Xander said opening the door and leading the way into the magic shop.

Angel just shook his head as they entered the shop. Wesley and Giles sat at a large round table. Fred was behind the counter actually talking to Dawn and a girl with straight blond hair whom he had never seen.

"Angel!" Dawn exclaimed when she saw him, which caused everyone else in the room to turn and look at the new arrival.

Fred's eyes brightened when she saw him "Angel."

"Angel." Wesley said standing "You must have gotten my note."

"And Angel must be the word of the day." Xander said smiling as Tara looked at him and shook her head while attempting to hide a smile.

Angel nodded "I did. But why are you here? And why are Cordy and Gunn patrolling?" he looked around the room "And where's Willow?"

Wesley rubbed his hands together "Well it's a rather long story."

"It's real short actually." Anya said.

Angel glanced at her then looked back at Wes "What's going on?" he stood in front of Wesley now.

Giles removed his glasses and looked up at Angel from his seat "A new slayer has been called."

Wesley nodded "It's Cordelia."

Angel looked quite surprised "Cordelia? Chosen?"

"We said the same thing." Dawn said. At that moment Cordelia, Willow, Gunn and Spike who was holding him up rushed into the shop slamming the door behind them.

Giles stood as he noticed Gunn holding his thigh, which still had the bolt stuck in it. Blood was soaking his jeans "What happened?"

"Had a run in with a demon." Spike said, "Wanted the Slayer." He looked at Cordelia who was bent over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath.

Willow nodded "Gunn shot it with the crossbow but it threw the bolt back at him."

"Bring him over here." Giles said as Spike helped Gunn to the table. None of the new arrivals had noticed Angel yet.

Gunn pulled himself up onto the research table and winced as a shot of pain rushed through his leg.

Giles examined his thigh briefly then looked up at him "This may hurt." He grabbed the bolt and pulled it out of Gunn's thigh. Gunn screamed as the bolt was torn from his leg.

Willow rushed over with a first aid kit. 

As Giles and Willow fixed up Gunn's leg Angel went over to Cordelia who was still leaning against the door.

"Angel." She said, "When did you get here?"

"Just before you came running in." He said, "So you're the Slayer?"

She nodded "Yup. Cool huh?"

Angel didn't speak for a minute "Yeah I suppose."

Cordelia looked into his deep brown eyes "It's weird I know. Buffy was…"

"A hero." He said, "She sacrificed herself to save the world."

She nodded as Spike came up behind Angel and put a hand on his shoulder "I see ya haven't done the pile of dust thing in sunny LA huh?"

Angel glared at him "What are you doing here?"

Spike pressed his jaw together then exhaled "I suppose you could say I'm one of the good guys now."

"What?" Angel asked "You a good guy? How?"

Spike nodded "Took me by surprise too." He tapped his head "And as to the how. I've got a bloody chip in my head. Can't attack people. Only demons."

Angel narrowed his eyes at Spike "Just watch it."

"Some welcome." Spike scoffed glancing at Cordelia "Thinks he's all high and bloody mighty." He left them and pulled himself up onto the counter.

"I really hate him." Angel said shaking his head "I don't trust him either."

Cordelia shrugged as Dawn stepped up beside Angel.

"He's not all bad." She said, "He helped us."

"You don't know him like I do, Dawn." Angel said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"And you don't know him like I do." She said staring up into his dark eyes.

Angel sighed "Can we stop talking about Spike? How have you been?"

Dawn was quiet for a moment "Ok. But how good can a person be after they watch their sister die saving the world."

"I'm sorry." Angel pulled her into a tight embrace "If I'd been here…"

"It wouldn't have saved her." Dawn whispered.

Angel inhaled deeply "I know." He had to fight to keep the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes from escaping. 

"Angel." Giles called from behind him. Angel released Dawn and turned to come face to face with the man whose life he had ruined when he had become Angelus "It's good that you're here."

Angel nodded "Seems like I've missed quite a bit since I left."

"Well yes that does happen when one leaves." Giles said. The Watcher and Vampire stood in silence for a moment. Everyone around also stood in silence.

"What about this demon." Wesley said breaking the silence.

Giles turned away from Angel and put his glasses on "Yes what type of demon was this?"

Cordelia moved away from the door and moved to the table where she took a seat "Well it was tall. Like six feet maybe taller."

"Brown and scaly." Willow added.

"Hell of an arm." Gunn said wincing as he touched the bandage wrapped around his thigh.

"Said he wanted the Slayer." Spike said.

Willow nodded "Didn't seem interested in the rest if us. Although he did use some magic or something to throw me into a tree."

Tara wrapped her arm around Willow's "Oh honey are you ok?"

Willow smiled "Yeah."

"You said it used magic?" Wesley asked. Wes had become a rogue demon hunter when he'd left the Watcher's Council "Well that narrows it down some."

"Research time?" Dawn asked, her eyes brightened.

Xander shook his head "You know you don't do research."

Tara nodded "Unless it's for school of course."

Dawn folded her arms over her chest.

"We should try to look up this demon." Giles said looking around the room "And it seems that we have more than enough help."

"Well I'm gonna get going." Spike said jumping down from the counter "Give me a holler if you find out anything." He opened the door and slipped out into the night.

As soon as Spike left the room became alive with movement. Cordelia and Angel went into the training room while everyone else went back and forth from the bookshelves above the main shop to the research table.

***

_Cordelia stood about five feet away from the demon who clutched a sword dripping with blood. Not just her blood but everyone else's blood as well._

She held her upper right arm tightly to try and stop the blood that was flowing over her fingers. Her hair whipped at her face as the wind blew at it; her face was smudged with dirt.

White and gray tombstones stood between her and the demon. 

Angel and Spike stood behind her on either side. Angel's leather duster was shredded from the waist down and the pieces flapped around his legs. His hair was matted down with sweat and blood. He had a rather large cut on his shoulder and the blood rolled down his arm and coated his fingers.

Spike had discarded his own leather duster earlier so it wouldn't get in the way while fighting. Blood from a large gash across his chest soaked the front of his black T-shirt. Blood trickled down the side of his face from a gash on his forehead. He wore his game face and glared at the demon.

Cordelia had no idea where the others that gone and right now they were the farthest thing from her mind. Right now all she cared about was killing this demon and doing it without dying.

The demon came towards her crushing tombstones under its large feet as it did so. It raised the sword high over its head and was about to bring it down when someone grabbed its arms.

Cordelia, Spike and Angel stood staring at the new arrival. It wore a long white dress that billowed in the wind. It had golden hair and a golden glow surrounded it. 

It fought the demon gracefully. Kicking and punching it forcefully.

Cordelia took off towards the demon and the white figure and joined in. Both of them pummeled the demon.

The demon staggered backwards them fell to the ground. Cordelia stared at the demon then turned to look at the white figure. Golden light blinded her and she was unable to make out its face.

***

Cordelia's eyes shot open. The sun was shining into the room. She'd been dreaming. She'd been fighting the demon. Someone had come and helped her. But who? She had to tell Giles and Wesley about the dream. It was a known fact that Slayer's dreams often meant something.

She got out of bed and dressed quickly. She found Willow, Tara and Fred in the kitchen eating breakfast.

"Where's Wes?" She asked as she stood in the doorway.

Willow flipped a pancake "Him and Angel never came back from the shop last night."

"And Gunn went there when he woke up." Fred put in. Cordelia was surprised at how quickly the girl had come out of her shell when she was introduced to Tara and Willow.

"Why w…what's wrong?" Tara asked.

"I had a dream. I have to tell Giles and Wes about it." She stated.

"A dream?" Willow asked "Oh a dream!" 

Fred looked from Cordelia to Willow "What's so bad about a dream?"

"Slayer's dreams usually mean something." Willow told her "And it's usually something not good."

Tara nodded "A whole lot of not good. You guys go. I'll wait for Dawn. Then me, her and Fred will meet you guys there."

"Ok." Willow said. Her and Cordelia left right away and went to the Magic shop.

***

"Congratulations." Angel said patting Xander on the shoulder. He and Anya had just told Angel that they were engaged.

"Thank you." Anya said, "We look forward to receiving your gift." She smiled "As long as it isn't a coffee maker. We have one of those." 

Xander sighed and Angel smiled "Don't worry it won't be." At that moment Cordelia and Willow came into the shop. Cordelia ran right to Giles and Wesley who were sitting at the research table.

Gunn glanced up from the book he was flipping through "Hey Cordy."

"Cordy what's wrong?" Wesley asked.

She took a deep breath. She had run the last block to the shop "I…I had a d..dream." 

"What kind of dream?" Giles asked as Cordelia shut her eyes and grabbed her head. 

Angel and Xander both ran to her side. Xander had never seen her when she got a vision and he had decided that he didn't like seeing her like that.

A bolt of pain shot through her skull but she remained on her feet. Images flashed through her head. Spike and Angel; both bleeding but still fighting. The demon knocking them and everyone else away like they were rag dolls. Herself fighting the demon. And a faceless figure also fighting the demon.

"Cordy!" Wesley exclaimed, She opened her eyes as he stood up and motioned for her to take his seat. "What was it?"

"Not bad." She said.

"What?" Angel asked.

Cordelia looked up at him and Wesley "It didn't hurt as much. Yeah sure it hurt like hell but it didn't feel like my skull was gonna split."

"It might be possible that her new Slayer powers have lessened the pain of the visions." Giles explained.

Wesley nodded "What did you see?"

"My dream." She said, "The vision was my dream."

"Oh dear." Giles said as him, Wesley and Angel exchanged glances.

Xander shook his head "That's a big oh dear."

Gunn nodded "Got that right."

"What was your dream?" Giles asked. He sat across the table from Cordelia.

She thought for a moment "I was fighting the demon. Angel and Spike were both there and they were both pretty badly hurt. I don't know where everyone else was though."

"Was there anything else?" Wesley asked.

She nodded "Yeah. Some person appeared and started helping me."

Xander and Willow exchanged a glance as Tara, Dawn and Fred came into the shop.

"What's going on?" Dawn asked when she walked into the silence in the shop.

"Cordy had a Slayer dream." Xander told the young girl.

"And your vision was just like your dream?" Angel asked.

Cordelia nodded "So what now?"

"Yeah do we just go looking for this demon?" Xander asked as the bell above the door chimed.

Spike ran into the shop with a blanket draped over his head. 

"What's up with you lot today?" He asked dropping the blanket to the floor and stomping out the flames on it.

"Cordelia had a dream and a vision." Angel told him. His tone became serious as he spoke to the other vampire.

"Both about fighting this demon." Giles informed him.

Xander nodded "It was one of those 'and you were there dreams'."

"I was there?" Spike asked looking at Cordelia.

She nodded "You and Angel were fighting the demon with me and you were both pretty beat up."

"So any idea ah what kinda demon we're fighting?" Spike asked.

Giles put on his glasses then opened a book in front of him to a page he had marked "Did it look like this?" he turned the book to face Cordelia.

Spike and Willow both peered over her shoulder while Gunn moved next to her.

"That's it." Gunn said nodding.

"So what is it?" Willow asked. 

"It's not so much a what as it is a who." Giles said wiping his glasses.

"Who is it then?" Cordelia asked looking at Giles.

Giles replaced his glasses and picked up the book "His name is Turko. He's very old and quite skilled in witchcraft. He's an extraordinary fighter and…"

"And what?" Anya asked as Giles let his sentence hang.

He took a breath then looked at Cordelia and the others "And he's killed half a dozen Slayers."

"And you think I was bad." Spike said taking a seat on the steps leading to the upper area of the shop.

Angel shot him an icy glare then turned his attention to Giles and Wesley "I think I've met him before."

"You have?" Wesley asked "When?" 

Angel thought for a minute as he sifted through his many memories "It was sometime after I was turned. I hadn't turned Dru yet. Me and Darla were in Russia and we came across this demon who was after the slayer who lived there."

"Did you fight with him?" Dawn asked.

He nodded "I almost got killed."

"How are we gonna kill this guy?" Cordelia asked, "I mean if he almost killed Angel then what chance do we have against him?

"I think we need Buffy." Willow said. Everyone turned to look at her "What? Why not bring her back?"

Giles closed his book "Willow that could be very dangerous."

"Honey, he's right." Tara said placing a hand on Willow's shoulder.

"Oh but fighting this guy ourselves isn't dangerous?" She asked, "Two slayers are more effective then one."

Xander nodded "Will, has a point there. Remember Buffy and Kendra? They stopped Spike from killing Angel that time."

Spike groaned "You had to bring that up huh?"

Xander ignored Spike's comment "I'm just saying maybe we shouldn't just say no."

"But not all resurrection spells are good." Tara stated "Some have really bad consequences."

"But we should try." Dawn spoke up "We need her."

Giles stood up "None of us know the first thing about doing a successful resurrection spell. Yes we might need Buffy but she isn't here."

"Even if you did bring her back you don't know if she would even be the same Buffy." Wesley said.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with them." Angel stated.

Spike grew angry when he heard that. He stood and stormed towards Angel "You stupid git! If you really loved her then you would want to bring her back too."

Angel vamped out and snarled at Spike "No one asked for your comments."

"Boys!" Cordelia shouted which got Spike & Angel's attention "Fighting is the last thing in the world the two of you should be doing right now."

Gunn nodded "Cordy's right."

Spike glared at Angel for a moment before turning towards the shop door "I'm out of here." As he walked towards the door Willow grabbed his arm.

"Can we come to your crypt tonight?" She whispered.

He stared at her for a moment "Whatever." He opened the door, threw the blanket over his head and left.

"Does that book say anything about weaknesses Turko might have?" Fred asked.

Giles turned to face the girl who had said very few words in the day and a half that he had known her "Um unfortunately it doesn't."

"Maybe you could try calling the council." Anya suggested "Maybe they have some information on this guy."

"That's a good idea Anya." Giles said, "Thank you." 

For the rest of the afternoon everyone was in research mode. They were all researching ways to fight Turko; well almost everyone.

__

***

"How do we bring back Buffy without Giles and Wesley finding out?" Xander asked.

"I can get stuff from the shop and bring them to the house and we can do the research there." Willow said. It was well past midnight and all the Scoobies except Dawn, Giles and the crew from Angel Investigations were in the lower part of Spike's crypt. It was the only place they could discuss bringing Buffy back without being overheard.

"What about the Bit?" Spike asked, "Shouldn't she know? Buffy is her sister after all."

Willow shook her head "I don't want Dawn to know until after we've brought Buffy back. Just incase."

"Incase what?" Anya asked.

"I…incase something goes wrong." Tara said, "We wouldn't want to get her hopes up."

Spike took a drag on his cigarette "But it's ok to get our bloody hopes up huh?"

"If we do this right then nothing will go wrong!" Willow said standing up from Spike's bed "I was doing some research today. If we get everything the spell calls for and have no distractions then nothing should go wrong."

Xander wasn't too sure about any of this "And how exactly do we get the stuff for the spell?"

"I could call other magic shops." Anya volunteered.

Willow shook her head "We can't do that. What if they call back and Giles answers the phone? Giles can't find out."

"Where will we keep the stuff?" Tara asked, "Even if we get everything we need we'll have to hide it until we actually do the spell." 

Spike put out his cigarette against the stone wall "Get the stuff and bring it here. I'll keep it safe here."

"See everything will work out." Willow said, "Trust me."

Xander sighed "Exactly what do we need?" 

***

Cordelia walked through the cemetery listening intently for any sign of a vampire. So far she hadn't encountered any on her patrol. 

She kept thinking of her dream and her vision. They had been exactly the same. Spike, Angel and herself fighting Turko. The white figure. Who was the white figure in her vision? She was so caught up in thought that she didn't notice the Scoobys coming out of Spike's crypt until she was right in front of them.

"Cordelia!" Willow exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

She narrowed her dark brown eyes as she looked at Willow and the others "I should ask you the same thing." She looked over the crypt "Why are you coming out of this crypt?"

"W…well…" Tara stuttered.

"Spike lives here." Anya told her.

Xander rubbed his hands together "Yeah. We were just hanging out with everyone's favorite vampire."

"Spike?" Cordelia asked, she rolled her eyes. "You're more of a loser then in High School."

"Hey!" Anya exclaimed stepping forward angrily.

Xander grabbed her arm "It's ok honey."

Anya pulled her arm out of Xander's grip "No." She stepped up to Cordelia "Xander is no a loser!" The two women stood face to face.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you? You can't do anything to me." Cordelia said, "You think you can hurt me?"

Anya stared at Cordelia for a moment. Before anyone could stop her she punched Cordelia hard in the side of the face.

Xander, Willow & Tara stared in awe. 

Cordelia's hand shot to the side of her face "I can't believe you did that!"

"That's my girl." Xander said to Willow and Tara.

Cordelia lowered her hand and as she began to lunge at Anya, Xander jumped between them.

"Ladies!" He said stretching his arms out to the side to push Cordelia and Anya further away from each other, "Lets not do this. It's late and I'm sure neither of you are thinking straight at the moment."

Anya shook her head "If I still had my powers I'd…"

"You'd what?" Cordelia asked, "Make it so I was never born?"

"That's not a bad idea." Anya said, "Everyone would probably be better off if…."

Xander cleared his throat "Enough!"

Willow and Tara both exchanged a glance. Neither of them had ever heard Xander take such charge over a situation.

He took Anya's hand "We are going to go home and get a good night's sleep." He turned to Cordelia "And you can continue patrolling. And we will all meet at the Magic Box tomorrow morning when we are all rested." 

Willow and Tara glanced at Cordelia then joined Xander and Anya who were heading towards the cemetery exit.

As they walked away Cordelia could hear Anya complaining about her. 

***

The next afternoon everyone was in the Magic Box except Spike and Dawn. The shop was closed to the public for the day. Cordelia and Wesley were in the training room in the back of the shop. She had not yet given a report of her patrol the night before.

Anya stood behind the counter arranging crystals and candles on the shelf behind her. 

"Good afternoon Cordelia." Giles said as her and Wesley came into the shop. When they had gotten to the shop Giles was busy stocking some shelves and they had gone directly into the training room. "How was your patrol last night?" 

"Ok. I slayed two vamps." She replied as she took a seat around the research table.

Giles noticed a dark bruise on her cheek "Did you receive that from one of the vampires?"

"No." She said glancing at Anya, "I got this from another demon bitch."

Anya spun and glared at Cordelia. 

Giles removed his glasses "There's another demon in Sunnydale?" he looked in the direction Cordelia was looking and noticed the looks the two girls were giving each other "Oh." 

Xander and Tara, who sat in the loft above the shop, glanced at each other. They were pretending to look up the demon Turko when they were really looking up resurrection spells. The books kept in the loft were the more powerful and dangerous volumes in the shop. There were also a few books from Giles's personal collection.

The bell above the door chimed and Spike ran in covered in a smoking blanket. He dropped the blanket to the floor and stomped out the flames.

Angel turned from the shelf he was standing near "You do know that there are sewer tunnels that lead directly into the basement."

Spike turned to Angel "Yes well some of us prefer not to smell like sewer." He picked up his blanket, crossed the room, and took a seat at the table. Spike smiled at Cordelia "Rough night?"

She glared at him "Don't talk to me."

Xander shook his head "What is it about Sunnydale that puts the Bitch in Cordelia?"

Tara looked up from the book she was reading and smiled.

The door to the basement opened and Willow and Fred stepped into the shop. Both girls were carrying boxes filled with jars of various things. Willow had taken Fred with her into the basement because someone needed to look after her. She had learned a bit about what had happened to Fred over the past few years. 

In the basement Willow had found one or two objects that would aid in whatever spell they used to bring Buffy back.

Giles looked up to Xander and Tara "Have the two of you found anything?"

Xander glanced at him "Huh?"

"Nevermind." Giles shook his head and brought his attention back to Cordelia "No sign of Turko then?"

She shook her head "None."

Angel laid the book he had been reading onto the table "Maybe Willy knows something."

"If he does he won't give up the information easily." Spike stated putting his legs up on the table.

"I think I can persuade him to give up it up." Angel said making a fist. 

Cordelia stood up and picked up a stake that was lying on the table "I'll come too."

"Buffy was always good at getting information out of Willy." Xander said looking up from a book.

Willow nodded "Yeah she would just beat it out of him."

Giles removed his glasses "Yes well not only is Willy a snitch but he also isn't always reliable."

Angel shook his head "He may not always be reliable but he won't lie to me." His face flashed from human to vampire and back to human "He knows better."

"Show off." Spike muttered. 

Angel cast him a glare then turned back to Giles "Tonight me, Cordy and Gunn will go to Willy's and see if he knows anything."

Spike stood up "I'll come too. I'm looking for a Mylok demon who owes me money."

Willow turned away from the book Tara was showing her "Spike, wouldn't it be better if you stayed here and patrolled tonight?"

Spike looked at her quizzically for a moment "Oh. Oh yeah that's probably a good idea. Atleast until the newbie is done with Willy." He smiled at Cordelia who rolled her eyes.

"That is probably a wise idea." Wesley stated, "There's no telling how long it will take you to beat….I mean get the information if any out of Willy."

Giles replaced his glasses "Alright then Angel, Cordelia and Gunn will go to Willy's and Spike will patrol."

"And us." Xander chimed in as he climbed down the stairs, "Me, Tara and Willow will go with him. You know for backup if he should need it."

Spike raised an eyebrow at Xander "Yes and you, the Glorified Bricklayer will be a lot of help when you're out cold."

Xander glared at Spike "I have a few things to say to you but I'm gonna keep my mouth shut because this is no time to fight with each other."

"Xander is right." Wesley said, "Right now we should be focusing on the situation at hand and not what insults to throw at each other next."

Giles nodded "That goes for all of you." He looked at Cordelia, Anya, Angel and Spike as he said this.

Angel looked like a wounded puppy and crossed his arms over his chest "He started it."

Giles sighed as Dawn giggled. No one had noticed her standing by the door.

"Dawnie when did you get here?" Willow asked quickly closing the book she was holding. 

Dawn walked past Giles and Angel and sat down at the table and pulled an open book towards her "A few minutes ago."

"I…I thought you were going to be at J…Janice's today." Tara stammered.

"I was but Janice had to go out." Dawn stated. She looked up at the book "So what's going on? Anymore info on the big bad?"

Spike sat back down, put his feet up on the table and smirked "There's nothing new with me."

Angel shook his head then smacked Spike in the back of his own head as he walked past him to Dawn "She's not talking about you." He took the book away from Dawn "There isn't much new news."

Spike took his feet off the table and rubbed the back of his head "Tonight big, tall and brooding is gonna take junior Slayer and muscles here to Willy's."

Gunn glared at Spike then turned to Wesley "Would anyone miss him if he were dead?"

"Too late for that mate." Spike quipped, he grinned. "Already dead."

Giles looked up at the ceiling, "God help me." He mumbled.

"No wonder Superman works alone." Xander said to Willow and Tara.

"Maybe it would be a good idea to separate the lot of you." Wesley suggested, "Angel and I can take Cordelia into the training room and the rest of you can do more research."

"Good idea." Spike said, "From what I saw the other night Junior Slayer needs some training."

Cordelia was ready to lunge at Spike and drive the closest piece of wood deep into his heart but she held herself back. If she was going to be the Slayer then she needed to restrain herself from doing rash things.

Angel could see that she was about snap so he crossed the room and put his hand on her shoulder and guided her into the training room. Wesley followed soon after. 

"Hey Dawnie wanna make a run to the Espresso Pump for us?" Willow asked hopefully. The Scoobies needed to map out what they needed to resurrect Buffy and they couldn't do that with Dawn and Giles around. Getting rid of Dawn for a while would be easier then getting rid of Giles. They also needed Gunn and Fred out of earshot.

Dawn's green eyes widened "Can I get a cappuccino? Please." She folded her hands together.

Willow exchanged a glance with Tara "Uh sure!"

"Really?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah. But only this once." Willow said. She pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and took down everyone's order. She handed Dawn the list and some money and Dawn half ran half walked out of the shop.

The Scoobies each took a seat around the table. Spike put his feet back on the table and Willow leaned on the book Tara had given her.

"How do we get Giles out of here?" Xander whispered. They all looked over at Giles who was leafing through a book of ancient demons.

Giles could feel ten sets of eyes on him. He looked up from the book "What?"

"Oh it's just that don't you think you should be back there with them?" Willow said.

Anya nodded "Yes. She sucks at defense." She smiled as she remembered how easily she had hit Cordelia.

"You go do the training. And we'll do the researching." Xander said opening a book.

Giles thought for a moment "If you think you can handle it."

"Of course we can." Willow said, "Researching is what we Scoobies do best!"

"Alright then." Giles closed the book he had been reading and handed it to Anya. Then he turned and went into the training room.

Willow waited till the door was closed then she opened the book she was leaning on "We only need a few ingredients."

Spike stopped her "What about Muscles and the girl?" he looked over to Gunn and Fred. Gunn was eyeing some weapons on the wall and Fred was looking over the shelves near the door.

"It's ok." Willow said and continued, "Almost everything we need for the spell is right here in the magic shop."

"What about the urn?" Tara asked pointing at the page Willow had opened to, "Do we have an Urn of Osiris?" 

Willow stood up and walked over to one of the boxes her and Fred had brought up from the basement. She moved some things onto the counter then pulled out a small clay urn and smiled "One Urn of Osiris." She sat back down and placed the urn on the table. "Now we just need the rest of the ingredients." They figured out what they had at the shop and what they didn't have. 

Spike knew where he could get a few of the ingredients they didn't have. As soon as the sun set Spike would go out and get them. Then they would meet at Buffy's grave later that night and raise the true Slayer from the grave.

***

As Cordelia got out of Angel's car she saw the rest of red sun in the sky sink lower over the California hills. Into moments the sky was dark purple.

"Come on Cordy." Angel said as her, Angel and Gunn entered Willy's Bar. She had never been there and as soon as they entered she saw why. 

The bar was small, dark and smelled of beer and something else she didn't want to think of. She had heard many times about Buffy and Angel coming here to get information out of Willy. She knew that Willy was a tough one to get information out of. In the past Angel and Buffy had either paid him off or beat him up to get information out of him.

"Angel!" Willy shrieked as he saw the trio enter the bar, "What on Earth are you doing here? Thought you were in L.A.?"

Angel leaned against the bar "This is a business trip Willy."

Willy took a step away from the bar "Oh. Hey I'm sorry to hear about Bu…."

Angel glared at Willy "You're not allowed to say her name!"

"R…Right! Sorry." He stammered, "So ah what can I help you with?" He glanced at Cordelia and Gunn "She must be the new slayer."

Cordelia folded her arms over her chest "News travels fast among the demon bunch huh?"

"Apparently." Gunn said and turned to Angel "So when do we get to the hitting part?" He balled his hands into fists.

Willy winced slightly at the thought of being hit by Angel "So what do you need to know?"

Angel placed his hands on the side of the bar "Do you know anything about a demon called Turko?"

Willy thought for a moment "Turko? Nope."

Angel knew her was lying and decided it was time to scare the answers he needed out of the barkeeper. He reached over the bar and grabbed the front of Willy's shirt "I don't like being lied to." Angel's face contorted to its vampire state and he bared his fangs. 

The barkeeper stared into Angel's feral yellow eyes. His forehead began to perspire "I…I might know s..something."

The vampire let go of Willy and pushed him back over the bar "Spill."

"Th…there have been a few vampires in here lately talking about a new demon in town." Willy stated.

"Turko." Cordelia said.

Willy nodded "That's what they called him."

"What does he want Willy?" Angel asked; his face still in vamp mode.

"They said he came here to kill the slayer. But not the new slayer." He said.

Cordelia slammed her hands against the bar "That doesn't make any sense. Buffy is dead! Why would he come here to kill her but then test me?"

Willy hadn't expected that and was now shaken up even more "H…he didn't know about Buffy when he set out for Sunnydale. He didn't hear about Buffy's death until he got closer then I suppose he heard about that and the new slayer through the grapevine."

"So now he's settled for killing the new slayer huh?" Cordelia asked staring at Willy.

He nodded "But he wanted to test you first. Now he's ready to kill you."

Cordelia smiled "Well that's just not gonna happen."

"Cordy, have you forgotten about our last run in with this guy?" Gunn asked.

"No. But last time we weren't expecting him. This time we'll be ready." She looked at Angel who had returned his face to its human form "We should get some weapon and patrol the graveyards. That's where we found him last time." 

Angel nodded "I have some weapons in my car. We can head right to the graveyards." He turned to Willy "You had better not be lying to me." With that they turned and left the bar.

***

In the graveyard The Scoobies were standing around Buffy's grave. Willow, dressed in a long sleeveless maroon dress, held a bag tightly in her left hand in her right hand she held tightly to Tara's hand. Xander and Anya stood huddled together next to them. Anya held the Urn of Osiris close to her body. Spike stood a but back from the others.

"So where do we start?" Xander asked breaking the silence they had been in since they arrived at the Slayers final resting-place.

Willow swallowed and let go out Tara's hand "First we sit in a circle then we light the candles." Willow knelt at the foot of Buffy's grave while the others knelt at her sides, Tara and Spike on her left and Xander and Anya on her right. 

Tara took four large white candles out of the bag Willow had been holding. She handed one each to Xander, Anya, and Spike then lit her own and handed them the lighter.

"Now we mix the ingredients of the spell together." Willow said as she took the Urn from Anya. She sat it in the grass in front of her. She then proceeded to remove things from the bag. 

"How long is this supposed to take?" Xander asked, "I mean will she rise right away or what?"

Willow looked at him and bit her lip "I'm not sure."

"How will we know?" Anya asked looking at each of the Scoobies "Will the ground open up and just spit her out? Should we have dug her up first? Should we…"

"Anya!" Willow snapped, "I don't know. All I know is that we have to do this."

Anya looked down at the flame of her candle "Sorry."

"I am too." The Wiccan said, "I didn't mean to snap. We have to do this now. We need Buffy." She looked to Tara and Spike then to Xander and Anya. They each nodded. Willow continued mixing the ingredients into the Urn. The last was a dark red liquid that she poured into the Urn.

"What is that?" Xander asked almost wishing he hadn't asked as Willow dipped her finger into the urn. When she removed it the thick red substance dripped from it. She drew a few lines on her face.

"Vino de Madre." Spike answered, "Wine of the mother." 

Xander nodded "Right. I don't wanna know anymore." 

"Silence now." Willow said. She closed her eyes "We need to concentrate. Think about Buffy. And whatever you do don't break the circle." 

Xander, Tara, Spike and Anya all closed their eyes and gripped their candles tighter.

Willow stretched her arms out at her sides, cleared her voice and began to speak "Osiris! Here lies the Warrior of the people. Let cross over!" A sudden gust of wind picked up. It whipped Willow's hair around. The wind threatened to extinguish their candles. 

Tara's eyes flew open as a bolt of lightning crashed nearby. Spike, Xander and Anya did the same thing. Willow kept her eyes closed and repeated the spell.

"Osiris! Here lies the Warrior of the people. Let her cross over!" She cried out as deep cuts formed on her forearms.

"Willow!" Xander exclaimed starting to move towards her.

"Don't!" Tara yelled over the wind and lightning, "She…she told me she might be tested."

Xander settled back down but was on alert for anything now. 

"Let her cross over!" Willow screamed. A loud cracking noise sounded a few tows away.

***

Cordelia jumped as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky above her "Great. Mood lighting."

"Just stay alert." Angel told her, "We don't want any surprise attacks." 

"Yeah those are never good." Gunn said hefting the sword he carried with him. The three of them were in one of Sunnydales largest cemeteries. They also happened to be a few rows away from Buffy's grave. They had no idea however that the Scoobies were also there.

Cordelia gripped the hilt of her sword tighter. The wind, the lightning and the location reminded her too much of her dream and vision. Her body tensed as she heard heavy footsteps behind her. "Angel is that you?"

"Cordy move!" Angel screamed. She dropped to the ground as a large sword slashed at the air where she was just standing.

As she lifted herself onto her shoulders to saw Angel fly through the air above her and land on a head stone a few feet from her. Next Gunn was thrown to the ground next to her.

Cordelia got to her feet quickly and lifted her sword in front of her. Turko stood a few feet away from her. The demon held his sword at the ready.

So far her vision was accurate except that Spike was nowhere to be seen. At that moment Spike came out of nowhere and threw a punch at the demon's face. The punch hardly phased Turko and he retaliated by grabbing Spike around the throat and lifting him off the ground. He stared at Spike with his glowing red eyes "Foul creature." He cast Spike aside effortlessly. 

Spike knocked his head on a tombstone and went down.

Cordelia heard a low growl behind her and turned briefly to see Angel on his feet behind her. His game face had taken over; his yellow eyes seemed to glow as lightning lit up the sky. Parts of his leather duster were ripped. He charged past Cordelia with his own sword out in front of him ready to run Turko through.

Cordelia held her sword out and charged with Angel. She swung her sword and was pleased as she caught Turko across one of his shoulders. Her pleasure was replaced by disappointment when she saw that all she had done was cut the black leather Turko wore. This was going to be harder then she thought.

Turko knocked Angel away and paid Cordelia back for the tear in his clothing. She had less then a minute to react as Turko's sword cam slashing across her. She jumped back and the sword sliced into her upper right arm. She cried out and dropped her sword. Her left hand shot up and she pressed it against her wound.

Angel slashed at Turko but the demon blocked the vampire's sword. Cordelia watched as the two became engaged in an elaborate sword fight.

Spike got to his feet slowly. He felt blood dripping down the side of his face from a gash on his forehead, which he had received when he'd hit the headstone. As he turned back to face the battle he saw Angel and Turko going at it. He wanted back in the fight, after all that's what Spike was born to do. After seeing the condition of Angel's duster Spike decided to discard his own to keep it in good condition. He dropped it to the ground then charged. 

Angel has acquired a rather nasty cut on his shoulder but was determined not to give up. He brought his sword down across Turko's chest with as much force as he could muster. The sword cut demon flesh and Turko cried out more in surprise then in pain.

Spike took that moment to ram himself into the demon. He knocked Turko a few inches. But to his and Angel's disappointment the stunned demon quickly regained his balance.

Turko hardly needed to move when he extended his arms and brought his sword down across Spike's chest. 

The platinum vampire roared in pain as his face morphed to reveal the demon inside him "You picked the wrong vampire to screw with." Both Spike and Angel charged Turko. The demon raised a hand and both vampires were hit with a bolt of magick and were thrown a few feet away.

Cordelia clutched at her right arm as blood ran down her arm. Her sword was gone and now she was alone. She couldn't die. She wouldn't let this thing beat her. She scanned the ground at her feet and saw her sword a few inches away. She grabbed it up and took on a fighting stance. Angel and Spike both on their feet now stood behind her on either side and were about to charge at Turko again when they both stopped.

***

Spike stopped before he even started as a familiar scent invaded his nostrils. His advanced vampire hearing picked up the weak beating of a heart. The beating got stronger and faster by the second. He glanced at Angel and knew he was hearing and smelling the same thing.

It was Buffy. It was coming from beneath them though. In the heat of the battle Spike has almost forgotten about the spell him and the Scoobies had performed no more then a few minutes ago. Now as he thought about it, it seemed like hours had passed since he had joined the fight against Turko when it had only been a matter of minutes.

Angel looked at Spike. Suddenly Spike realized that the reason Buffy's scent and the sound of her heart beating were coming from beneath them was because Buffy was still buried six feet under. He would never get to her in time by himself. Him and Angel had to work together and dig her out of her grave otherwise the spell would have been for nothing.

"We have to dig her out!" Spike yelled as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. 

Angel glanced at Cordelia; she had her sword held up in front of her and was ready to charge at Turko. He didn't want anything to happen to her but he couldn't leave Buffy to suffocate in her coffin.

"Bloody hell!" Spike cursed, "I'll do it myself." He turned and darted to Buffy's grave. The extinguished candles were still lying on their side where the Scoobies had left them. The spell has been going well until Turko had arrived. Willow had been determined to finish the spell but the other Scoobies thought they would be more useful if they didn't stick around and get in the middle of the fight and get themselves killed. None of them were ready for a fight with the demon. 

So Xander had grabbed Willow and dragged her away while Anya and Tara followed behind. Unbeknownst to any of them the spell had already begun working and was actually completed just before Xander had pulled Willow away. 

Spike dropped to his knees and began to tear at the ground. A moment late Angel arrived and began clawing at the ground as well.

"How did this happen?" Angel asked Spike, "I know you know."

Spike kept digging "What does it matter mate? She's alive is all that matters." It took the two vampires only minutes to unearth the coffin, which had been Buffy's final resting-place. A moment after they had found the smooth wooden coffin a bloodied fist broke through the cover.

***

Cordelia turned her head momentarily and was shocked to find both Angel and Spike had disappeared. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned back to Turko. So far her vision and dream had been accurate now all she needed was the mysterious white figure to show up.

Turko began to move towards her crushing tombstones under his large feet. As he did so he raised his sword high then brought it down towards Cordelia's head. Cordelia raised her own sword swiftly and heard the clang of metal as the swords hit. 

Turko raised his sword again and brought it down with more force. Before it could connect with Cordelia's sword a pair of hands grabbed his arms and stopped the descent of the sword.

Cordelia saw could now see Angel and Spike in the corner of her eye. They both stood staring at the new arrival. She wore a white flowing dress and had golden hair that practically lit up with each bolt of lightning.

Turko was stunned by the new arrival. This he had not expected. Cordelia had also not expected this. 

Cordelia could not believe her eyes. She couldn't be seeing who she thought she was seeing. Buffy was dead after all. She had become the Slayer because Buffy had died.

"Thought I was dead huh?" Buffy said to Turko as she held his arms above her head, "Well I was but I'm back now. You wanna kill me again? Let's see ya try."

She planted a sharp kick in the demon's midsection which knocked him back a foot or so. This also caused him to drop his sword, which Buffy grabbed up quickly. Buffy glanced at Cordelia "Hey Cordy. Need a hand?" Buffy didn't seem at all surprised to see Cordelia.

Cordelia stepped up next to Buffy "Nice to have you back."

Buffy smiled and hefted the sword "Nice to be back. Now lets kick some demon ass."

"Don't have to tell me twice." The other slayer said. They both charged at Turko. Within moments the demon lay at their feet. 

Spike stepped up to the deceased demon and kicked its leg "Now why couldn't we do that?"

Angel shrugged and winces slightly as he remembered his cut shoulder "Guess we just weren't enough."

"Guess two Slayers are better then one." Cordelia said turning to face Buffy, "I should have known it was you in my vision."

Buffy's eyes lit up "You had a vision about me? Cool." A bolt of lightning lit up the sky "What's with the light show?"

Spike had retrieved his duster and was pulling it on he looked at Buffy "Must be side affects from Red's spell." Once his eyes locked onto her he couldn't take them off her. He had thought that he'd never see her again. 

"We should probably get back to the Magic Box." Angel said, "Tell the others about Turko and about Buffy."

Cordelia nodded "Good idea." Suddenly something dawned on her, "Wait a minute. Where's Gunn?"

Realization suddenly hit Angel "You're right. Where is he?"

A groan from behind a tombstone caused them all to turn. Gunn was getting to his feet slowly, using the tombstone as support. "Man I always miss the good parts." He touched his head and winced "That's gonna be tender." He did a double take when he saw Buffy "I don't wanna sound dumb here but I see dead people." 

Buffy smiled "Formally dead people." 

"Me and the Scoobs brought her back." Spike stated. 

Gunn nodded which caused him to stumble a little "Ok not trying that again." 

"Let's get you back to the magic shop." Angel said.

***

They had found the Scoobies, Giles, Wesley, Fred and Dawn at the magic shop. Giles had been furious with Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya when they had told him what they had done and that to their knowledge the spell hadn't worked. Giles was still yelling when Buffy and company entered the shop.

Giles had stopped yelling midsentence when he saw Buffy walk into the shop. He had then rushed to her and had enveloped her in a tight hug.

The Scoobies has been ecstatic to see Buffy. There had been many hugs and lots of tears. 

It had been early morning by the time they had gotten back to the shop. Buffy had found the extra clothes she kept in the training room and had changed out of the white dress she had been buried in. "I never want to wear that dress again." She stated as She entered the main shop.

Giles hung up the phone a moment later "That was Travers."

"What did he have to say?" Wesley asked, "Did they know about Buffy?"

Giles removed his glasses "Yes. The council sensed something wasn't right. Called to check."

"So now what?" Xander asked, "Are both Buffy and Cordy gonna be slayers? After all two slayers are better then one."

The Watcher shook his head "No. The council does not want there to be three slayers at one time."

"Faith." Angel stated.

"Correct." Giles said, "She may be in prison but she is still a slayer and the council does not want there to be three slayers. I'm not sure how they will do it but Cordelia will no longer be a slayer now that Buffy is back."

"Great." Cordelia said, "Back to being just Vision Girl." As if on cue Cordelia grabbed her head and cried out in pain. The vision was of a demon with tentacles for arms attacking a group of people.

Wesley ran to her side "Cordy, What are you alright?"

She put a hand to her forehead and sighed "Looks like the slayer powers are gone cause that killed."

"Well looks like we're needed elsewhere." Angel said, "Wish we could stay longer." 

"I'll drive since the sun us due any minute." Wesley said helping Cordelia to her feet.

Buffy walked up to Cordelia and smiled "I was happy to fight side by side you."

Cordelia smiled and nodded "I'm glad you're back, Buffy." The two girls embraced.

When they let go of each other Buffy went to Angel "Wish you could stay longer."

"I'm just happy to see you alive." Angel said, he stroked her golden hair "Stay alive this time."

Buffy smiled "I will." They stared into each other's eyes before Angel broke away.

Spike chose this moment to sneak away. He couldn't deal with seeing the woman he loved staring dreamily up at Angel. He went outside, lit up a cigarette and leaned against the outside of the Magic Box.

A moment later Angel and his posse exited the shop. Wesley and Cordelia got into the front seats while Gunn and Fred crawled into the back. Angel stopped before getting into the car and turned to regard Spike "Take care of her. Don't let anything happen to her."

Spike nodded "Don't worry I won't."

Angel took in a deep breath "Remember we both love her." With that Angel covered himself with a blanket and climbed into the car. A second later it was heading down the street back towards LA. 

Spike took a long drag on his cigarette then stomped it out with his boot. He turned and went back into the magic shop. He smiled when saw Buffy sitting at the table. She was listening intently to all the things the Scoobies were telling her about the past month. Everything was back to normal.

Buffy looked up momentarily at Spike and smiled then went back to listening to her friends.

Well as normal as things were gonna get.

****

The End

  



End file.
